Another Pattern
by evil-step-sister
Summary: Many years after King Galbatorix’s defeat, the search for the next Dragon Rider has so far come up empty. A confusing message from Blagden gives them the idea to send the egg into another dimension and where better than the world of the Dragon Reborn?
1. The Sending

Alright! My first non-one-shot story! This is mainly just a prologue to set up the story. I haven't really started writing out the story yet, I just wanted to put it up to see if people are interested enough to read it.

Summary: Many years after King Galbatorix's defeat, the search for the next Dragon Rider has so far come up empty. A confusing message from Blagden gives them the idea to send it into another dimension and where better than the world of the Dragon Reborn?

Warnings: Uh…it says damn in it?

Disclaimer: I don't own Inherence Cycle or the Wheel of Time. They belong to the brilliant minds of Christopher Paolini and Robert Jordan respectively.

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In the elven city of Ellesmera, an important meeting was underway. All of the most prominent figures in the elven city were present; of course this included the famous Dragon Rider, Eragon Shadeslayer, who was currently bored nearly out of his mind.

It wasn't so much the meeting itself that was boring him, on the contrary anyone else would have thought it quite fascinating; it was the fact that they had been meeting in this room nearly everyday for the past few weeks. The topic had yet to change after all this time and the people around him refused to admit they were just trying to bring up comments that would somehow stall their inedible decision.

Eragon let his mind wander to the reason this never-ending meeting started in the first place.

***Flashback***

Eragon and Arya sat in a small room with very little furnishings in it. There was nothing, but the two chairs they sat in, the small circular table in front of them, and a pedestal, on top of which sat a velvet cushion with what looked like a large oval stone. As you may have guessed this wasn't an ordinary stone, or a stone at all. It was a dragon egg. The single remaining egg that was taken back from King Galbatorix after his downfall, and perhaps the last egg in existence.

It had been many years since the evil king's defeat. Exactly how long Eragon didn't like to think about. It meant he was getting old, which wasn't something that appealed to him very much. Even though it had been many years, and many elves and humans had tried to get a response from the egg, it had yet to hatch. People were starting to wonder just when, or even if, it was.

Eragon was just about to suggest going to get something to eat when Blagden, the white raven enchanted by Arya's father after saving his life, swooped in through one of the small windows near the top of the room and landed on the edge of the pedestal. He eyed the egg for a moment, then, turning to the other occupants of the room, uttered a hoarse cough before he croaked out:

"One stone left,

From the evil king's theft.

There you sit; thinking, thinking,

All the while your stomach sinking.

Pondering that question in your head,

While your chest; it fills with dread.

'Who is destined? Who is right?

To be a hero in his own plight?'

Who will it be?

Who will it be?

We shall see.

We shall see.

Fruitless shall your struggles be.

In another pattern lies the key."

He stood there just a moment longer, then took off back out the window.

Eragon and Arya shared a questioning glance before quickly leaving to share this new discovery with the others.

***End Flashback***

Eragon made a silent pledge to himself that one day he would take that damn bird and stuff it with its own confusing riddles. They never did anything, but cause him trouble and give him headaches.

He sighed as he continued his study outside the window, enjoying the comfortable breeze that blew through.

It was the spring season. Plants were in new bloom, the various birds chirping merrily in the vast trees, and the elves of the city going about their daily routines.

That reminded him that Dagshelgr was to be soon. He would have to find someplace to go at that time. He had learned to tolerate the elven songs, but they still made his mind fuzzy and decidedly uncomfortable. Maybe Saphira could take him on a short trip…

"Are you certain that this is the best opinion, Eragon? …Eragon!"

He was startled from his wondering by Arya's voice. Realizing he had missed what was being talked about, he asked her to repeat it.

"Honestly Eragon, you need to be paying attention! This decision could decide the fate of the dragons. I asked you if sending the egg into…how did you put it? Another dimension? Yes. If sending the last dragon egg into another dimension, and hoping that by some stroke of luck the person destined to be the next Dragon Rider finds it, and us more than likely never to return it back here, is the best option."

Eragon internally sighed. They had been over this before; many times in fact, "Yes, I do believe it to be our best option. We have been trying to find the next Dragon Rider here in Alagaesia for over a hundred years. According to Blagden's message our struggles will be fruitless, which they have been, and the key lies in another pattern. By pattern I think he means another time line or dimension."

"If we were to send it," another of the present elves spoke up, " and if this theory turned out wrong, then we will not be able to get it back. It shall be the end of the dragons."

"I never said it would be impossible to bring it back." Eragon countered, "I said it would take even more effort to bring it back then to send it."

"But there is nothing to say the dragon will be able to survive there. The egg could be destroyed on the way, or by something that decides to attack it when it arrives." This particular elf was especially against sending the egg and had been arguing against it from the beginning.

"You know as well as I that it is physically impossible for anything short of another dragon or magic to destroy an egg and I doubt anyone would find a stone threat enough to try to destroy it with magic."(1)

"Even if the egg did hatch we would have no way of knowing. What if we tried to bring it back and brought a fully grown dragon instead, parting it from its Rider? Which brings up the point of how the Rider is to be trained when the only other live Rider is in a separate dimension?" The elf looked annoyingly confidant that Eragon wouldn't be able to think of an answer to his latest complaint.

'_Brings up the point? This point was brought up two weeks ago and I gave a perfectly good answer then!!'_ Eragon thought, starting to get frustrated. "I shall know exactly when the egg hatches, just as Brom and Oromis were able to know exactly when Saphira hatched for me. As for training the new Rider I have found a way that will send me to the same dimension in order for me to instruct him in that training."

The elf looked rather put out.

Arya stood and spoke to the group, "Now that Eragon has made his points does anyone else disagree in the sending?" Pausing a moment and hearing no objections she continued, "Alright. Let's begin planning for the sending of the egg."

'_Finally!' _was Eragon's relieved thought.

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Deep in the thick forest of Du Weldenvarden, a small gathering of elves and one Dragon Rider stood in a clearing around a stone pillar. The pillar was pure white with multiple carvings all around the sides, which, though faded with age, were still legible.(2)

Multiple experiments had been done on this stone pillar when the elves first came to the forest. Through them it was found out that the carvings reacted to their magic, and if you were to focus on a certain symbol your mind would then travel to another world. It would only last a moment because it used up too much magic. It was guessed that if enough magic were put into it not only your mind, but also your physical body would be able to travel to another world. However it was never tested because nobody wanted to take the chances of it being wrong.

This is what Eragon and the elves had come up with in order to send the egg to another dimension. Not knowing which symbol might be the right one, it had been decided that they would allow Eragon to pick a symbol, leave the egg in that dimension for one year, then bring it back if it hadn't hatched and try a different one.

For Eragon's part, he was just relieved to be finally sending the egg away. _'I get the elves are pretty much immortal, but do they have to have four-week-long meetings for every decisions they make?' _ Indeed, after they decided to send the egg it had taken almost four and a half weeks to have everyone agree on how and where to send it. Then, the preparations had to be made and a group chosen to take part in the sending.

At a signal from Arya everyone gathered close together in a circle surrounding the stone pillar with Eragon holding the egg. As each person allowed their magic to flow within them and then into Eragon, he placed a hand on a circle with a sinuous line running through the middle and one half carved out so a shadow made it seem darker than the other half.(3)

Focusing on the symbol, he let the magic flow into it and surround the egg. Realizing the magic of the group wouldn't be enough without someone dying, he took energy from the surrounding forest. The egg and symbol seemed to pulse together for a few moments. Then, with a blinding flash of light and a loud _crack_ the egg disappeared.

The group fell to their knees, panting hard, form the sudden loss of energy.

They stayed like that for a while contemplating what they just did, before standing and making their way back to Ellesmera, hoping against hope that they did the right thing.

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In the lands of the Dragon Reborn, a young man with reddish hair and blue eyes woke from his light slumber with a start.

There had been a loud _crack_ and a blinding flash of light that could been seen through the slit in the entrance to his tent. Going outside he saw a glow from a small fire and smoke rising out of the small thicket near where he and his companions were staying. Getting a few of them together he went over to see what had caused it.

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TBC…

(1) I'm not quite sure about this, but from what I've read I believe its true. Nothing Eragon did broke Saphira's shell, but in Eldest Saphira shows Eragon a cave with many bits of broken shell in it and calls it the Stone of Broken Eggs and tells how the elves shattered them with magic.

(2) If you think about it, it makes since for a pillar to be there, too. They are supposed to connect all versions of the pattern and the world of Dragon Riders could have been a possibility of the pattern.

(3) Yes, the symbol of Aes Sedai. How convenient.

Wow. I can't believe I wrote this up so fast and that its as long as it is!

I more than likely won't be having regular updates, but when I write something out I'll put it up.

Can anyone guess who is going to be the next Dragon Rider? A main character? A random aiel? Or maybe just some red-haired guy from a small village in the middle of nowhere? Who knows? I do!! Duh.

Anyway, I'm going to put up a poll for the color and name of the dragon. If no one votes I'm going to make it hot pink and name it Sprinkles. Seriously.

Ok. Please review! Since its my first story please don't be too harsh, but constructive criticism and praise, if you think its good enough, is greatly appreciated!

PS. Happy Thanksgiving! Eat lots of turkey and more than one slice of pie, then laze around and watch football!


	2. The Hatching

Wow. I didn't realize it had been this long since I updated. Sorry! To tell the truth I kind of forgot about it until I got a review. By the way: Thank you soooooooo much to Marauders12 and wolfmaiden for reviewing and to the people who alerted my story!! It's literally the only thing that made me write up this chapter.

Summary: Many years after King Galbatorix's defeat, the search for the next Dragon Rider has so far come up empty. A confusing message from Blagden gives them the idea to send the egg into another dimension and where better than the world of the Dragon Reborn?

Disclaimer: I don't own Inherence Cycle or the Wheel of Time. They belong to the brilliant minds of Christopher Paolini and Robert Jordan respectively.

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Being stuck in a war between Aes Sedai, Gawyn Trankand had come to expect that something would happen fairly soon that would completely change his current plans. That something being a smoking, jet-black rock, that woke him from his sleep in the middle of the night, was not what he would have suspected.

As he and the small group of Younglings he took with him to inspect the minor explosion stood around the newly make clearing, he weighed the pros and cons of simply leaving the rock here and not being bothered with it. On the one hand, a large smoking rock appearing out of no where with a loud bang, was obviously Aes Sedai work and it was never a good idea to involve yourself if you could avoid doing so. On the other hand, he was already neck deep in Aes Sedai affairs himself with his sister an Accepted and Egwene also studying in the Tower. The rock may be of some importance to one of them.

As he stood there, contemplating, a feeling grew in him to go to the stone. He tried to ignore it and think about it rationally, but the feeling kept growing till it was unbearable. Ignoring the cautioning words of the comrades he make his way slowly over to it and gently laid his hand on top. The earlier feeling disappeared like a pricked bubble and he was left surprised at his unthinking actions.

Making his decision he picked up the stone and made his way back out of the clearing.

"We'll keep it for now," he said, answering the group's questioning looks. "Put it in a storage tent until we find an Aes Sedai to give it to; and set somebody to watch it. If anything out of the ordinary happens to it alert me immediately."

"Yes, my Lord."

He watched as it was taken away, the odd feeling of going to it rising again. He shook himself and firmly squashed it down, walking to his tent to attempt to get some much-needed sleep.

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They continued on to Tar Valon for a few days and nothing more happened.

That feeling to stay near the odd black stone wouldn't leave, but Gawyn refused to succumb to it completely. Instead, his tent moved a little closer to the middle of the camp, and the storage tent, day by day, until he might as well be sleeping in there himself.

The more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed that the stone would just happen to appear only a few hundred feet from where he was at the time. The odd feeling from earlier left him little doubt that the stone was meant for him, the question was who would send it to him and why him in the first place? He wasn't completely sure he wanted to know the answer. Either way, he was going to give it to the first Aes Sedai he was at least somewhat sure he could trust.

That plan didn't last very long, and a few days later he was once again woken from his sleep; this time by the startled yell from the guard of the tent next to his own.

As he was getting up to see what caused it, the guard, a young man named Erith, ran into his tent, panting as though he had run ten miles instead of just a few feet.

"My Lord! Quick! It's the stone! It's alive!"

Gawyn looked at him a moment, wondering what in the world he could mean, while the young guard was nearly hopping from foot to foot in anxiousness. Then, he got up and strode out of his tent and into the next one, Erith close on his heels.

There was the stone…lying in the exact same place as he saw it last. He turned back to Erith, who was staring at the stone as if it would jump up and bite him any moment, and was about to tell him off for jumping at shadows, when a loud, high-pitched squeak filled the air. Erith leaped about a foot in the air and Gawyn spun back around to stare at the stone. It still lay there, the same as before. Opening his mouth to wave off the noise as a rat, he froze as the stone started rocking on the box it was set upon.

Erith gave off another startled yell and nearly shouted, "See! It's alive!!" and went out of the tent as quick as possible to get the others. Or…that's what Gawyn hoped he was doing.

Backing away slowly, while grabbing for the hilt of the sword that wasn't there, Gawyn never took his eyes off the stone. It stopped moving before giving another, louder squeak and rocking even more vigorously.

It fell off the crate with a _thump_ and stilled once more. Gawyn stood frozen for a moment, then watched transfixed as cracks started to fill the stone's surface. Slowly it dawned on him that this wasn't a stone at all. It was an egg! _'What in the Light could be big enough to lay an egg this large?!' _

As the number of cracks grew, a piece fell off the top and Gawyn leaned forward, watching intently, as a small serpentine head rose out of the newly-made hole. He heard a gasp and a _thud_, and quickly glanced back to see Erith lying in a heap on the ground, surrounded by more of the Younglings. _'So he did go out to get others after all.'_ Turning back to look at the strange creature, he now saw it was fully out of the egg and licking itself the get the egg membrane surrounding it off.

The creature was like nothing he had ever seen before. It was a deep black color, exactly like its egg, and looked somewhat like an oversized lizard that had some odd deformity on its back. He gasped when the creature stretched them out and realized they were leathery wings, similar to a bat's. The only thing he had seen that was close to resembling this creature was the serpentine figure on al'Thor's banner that people called a dragon, but that couldn't be it. The dragon on the banner looked more like a snake with legs and a mane around its head. This creature was more rounded, didn't have a mane, and had wings besides. Sighing, he gave up for now and focused on what it was doing instead of its appearance.

When it finished with its licking, it stretched a bit more and started wandering around as if looking for something. Gawyn squatted down and froze as the creature looked at him, bright, mysterious looking, silver eyes boring into his. It turned back around and resumed its wandering, squeaking every so often as it bumped into something.

As it made its way slowly toward him, Gawyn feel the others behind him tensing. Once it got close enough, and didn't seem as if it would attack, he cautiously reached out a hand to touch its smooth black scales.

He made contact and cried out in shock and pain as a burning fire made its way up his arm and spread throughout his body. The burning seemed to last for hours, though he knew it was probably only a few moments, before it started to dim.

He lay there, panting, his limbs still shaking slightly. His mind felt odd. More open somehow and he could feel another's presence, like what he would guess it felt like to be Bonded. He became aware of the Younglings previously behind him, now surrounding him, calling out his name and asking if he was alright.

The creature crawled onto his stomach, unnoticed by the Younglings until it had settled down comfortably and stared at Gawyn, as if waiting for him to do something. The Younglings yelled out and made a hasty grab for swords or daggers, but Gawyn raised his hand for them to stop. He then blinked in surprise and stared at his right palm, the one he had used to touch the creature, as it now held a shiny white oval in the center.

Looking once more at the small thing on top of him, he noticed tiny curved fangs poking out of its mouth and sharp looking claws on the end of each of its toes. They, along with the spikes running the length of its back, were a pure white that stood out brilliantly against the deep black of its scales.

Once more, he reached out and gently touched the creature. When nothing happened he started slowly petting the thing. It gave a small yawn and curled up, falling asleep almost instantly. Chuckling slightly, Gawyn looked up at the men still surrounding him and said, "Well, looks like we have a new companion joining us on our journey." Chuckling again at the dumbfounded looks of his soldiers, he sat up and gently held the sleeping creature to his chest.

After he ordered the group to go back to the respective duties, he entered his tent and laid down in his bed with the creature beside him. He just lay there awhile, thinking about what changes this little thing might bring his life, and slowly drifted off back into sleep.

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In his room in Ellesmera, Eragon Shadeslayer blinked in confusion, trying to understand the strange feeling that woke him. Understanding dawned on him and a large grin spread on his face. He jumped out of bed and rushed around trying to pull on his clothes, before he stopped and sat down where he was at, not seeming to mind that he only had one arm in his shirt.

One part of him wanted to get back up and start doing a jig in excitement, the other, more serious part started wondering why the dragon had hatched so quickly. For it to be out of the egg now meant it had met with its rider the same day it was sent. What could be happening in that world that would call for the dragon and its new rider to be needed so soon?

Whatever it was, Eragon decided to wait a few days before telling the Arya and the others about the egg hatching to give the new pair time to adjust to each other before he stepped in. Now being too wound up to go back to sleep, he adjusted his shirt, stepped onto the balcony connected to his sleeping chambers and walked to Saphira, still smiling.

'_It's almost time little one.' _Saphira said lying down next to him.

"Yes," Eragon replied quietly, leaning against Saphira's side.

'_Are you sure you are ready to leave this place?'_

"No," he sighed, "but what choice do I have? This new Dragon Rider needs me and the hatchling will need you. There is no telling what might happen to them if we don't go and they have no one to teach them. Besides, it isn't like we are leaving for good. We'll come back someday and maybe them with us."

'_It will be nice to have another dragon around again. It can be lonely being the only one of your kind around.'_

"I can only imagine, but you always have me around to talk to. You seem to get on well with the Elves, too and the dwarves pay a visit now and then. You know you're never really alone."

Saphira snorted a small puff of smoke, _'Yes, but mostly that can be a pain. Humans and Dwarves are so simple minded and the Elves are still too afraid of insulting me to have a good conversation, even after all these years.'_

"Hey!" Eragon glared at her playfully and heard a sound coming from her that could only be counted as laughter.

They remained silent after that, watching the sky as time slipped by and the moment they would leave to this other dimension drew nearer.

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**TBC…**

There! Chapter 2! Hope you liked it and once again I'm sorry I took so long to update. I'll try to make the next one sooner, but reviews really help me go faster. _*hint hint**wink wink*_

I still have the poll up for the name of Gawyn's dragon, so please vote! You can also leave ideas in reviews! So far I've had one person The second was my sister, so that really doesn't count.

Anyway, thanks again and please review!


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